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Although they are not the grand publishing predictions of author Joe Konrath for 2014, there’s something unsettling about how American scientist and sci-fi author, Isaac Asimov, nailed more than a few predictions over fifty years ago that have actually been realized today.

One of which is…

“By 2014, electroluminescent panels will be in common use.” You may not realize what electroluminescent panels are, but these thin, bright panels are used in retail displays, signs, lighting and flat panel TVs.

There’s a list of several others, along with a few things he mentioned that didn’t come true.

I predict more and more LGBTI celebrities will come out this year, George Clooney will remain a bachelor, we’ll see even more nude male calendars for the holiday season of 2014, the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey will suck but will garner millions at the box office, and there will still be people writing about how e-books are only a passing trend.

Amazon Pulls Anti-Gay Book?

Actually, not. According to this article it wasn’t Amazon that pulled an allegedly anti-gay book it was the publisher.

But after contacting Amazon, GSN was told it was in fact the publishers that chose to no longer stock the book on the website.

Author and anti-gay radio host, Linda Harvey, wrote a book that suggests parents should ignore gay kids in what sounds like an attempt to pretend it’s not there. It really doesn’t make sense to me, but there’s something about parents telling kids to realize their bright futures and not to pay attention to the fact that they might be gay. I could be wrong, but it’s really not all that clear.

On coming out, Harvey says many young people think it is a ‘new civil right’ to be ‘who you are’. ‘But there’s a problem. Are we sure this is the truth?’ she says. ‘Does this identity bring the promised liberation and the key to a whole new life?

I don’t get it. You’re either gay or you’re not. If you’re a young adult male and you’re attracted to women nothing is going to change that. The same thing goes if you’re a young adult male and you’re attracted to men. At least that’s how I remember it when I was a young adult male. I know for some there are gay areas, but for most there aren’t.

In any event, Harvey has made claims there is no proof there ever was a gay young adult or kid. Well, I’m living proof, Harvey, and that’s all you need to know. I knew it at three years old, but I went to proms with women, pretended to like women, and didn’t come out until my early twenties. All that didn’t scar me for life and I actually do have fond memories of my prom night and my high school years, but I would rather have gone to the prom with a football player than one of the cheerleaders if I had had the choice back then.

Are kids gay? Do they realize they are gay at a young age? In yesterday’s post I talked about how people get horny at weddings, which is not at all related to Matt Bomer discussing how he grew up in the closet. But there is a small connection between this post and yesterdays wedding post I think is important to talk about that deals with gay kids, the way they hide it, and the topic of bullying. And how gay men like me, as adults, are often targeted in ways most people wouldn’t even expect.

I’m one of those people who can listen to six conversations at one time and absorb what everyone is saying without missing a word. As a writer, I’ve learned to observe people…their actions, their expressions, and even the tones in their voices. And weddings are great places to sit back and watch how people behave and react.

There are always a few kids at weddings. At the one I went to on Sunday there were about six or seven that ranged in ages from six years old to fourteen years old. I immediately focused in on one kid from the bride’s side I didn’t know anything about. He must have been around ten or eleven years old. He was wearing a small black straw hat, tilted to the side, and he stood out from the other kids without having to even try hard at it. As noticed him throughout the evening, I quietly watched how friendly he got with another boy who was probably about twelve. I even mentioned it to Tony, and then to my sister, and we all exchanged a glance. At one point, those two boys were having such a good time with each other I was sure they were going to dance together. I was hoping they would. They acted as if there was no one else in the room except them.

Were they both gay? I couldn’t say for certain. But I would bet they were because I rarely see two boys look at each other they way they were. They never actually danced with each other, and they maintained that invisible line all young gay people learn how to draw and they never crossed it. But they way they looked at each other, and the way they seemed so into each other was fascinating to watch. And a little sad, too. Both kids come from families where they have gay relatives like Tony and me, and yet they were still terrified to actually show how they felt about each other.

And that’s because gay kids still don’t talk about being gay, at least not most. I never did and I knew it at three years old. Thankfully, Matt Bomer talked about it recently and what he said backs up anything I could say in this post about how gay kids hide who they are, and about how they grow up with a set of extra baggage straight kids don’t have to deal with. I hate to make Matt Bomer sound like the spokesperson for gay men on topics like this, but so far he’s the only one honest enough who WILL talk about it openly.

“When I was in high school, there was no safe haven, there was no outlet for you to speak your mind. So I did what any self-preserving 14-year-old would do—I signed up for the school play and also the football team to cover my tracks.”

I don’t think there’s a gay man alive who can’t identify with that. I’m sure those two boys at the wedding would know exactly what he’s talking about. I even wrote about a young gay man in “An Officer and his Gentleman,” who was a victim of his circumstances and one reviewer said it wasn’t realistic. I let her get away with it at the time without making a fuss. She obviously didn’t like the book and she had something against my publisher, and I can live with that. But the comment about it not being realistic will bother me until the day I die. I think if she were do to this today, I would confront her in a different way. Why didn’t I confront her with more force at the time? Because I’ve been taught and conditioned as a gay man to keep it quiet, let it go, and pretend it doesn’t exist. In other words, join the school play and the football team to keep everyone else happy. This is a quote from that review:

He’s reasonably bright. He’s a hard worker. How am I expected to believe this is his only alternative? There’s never enough reason or depth provided to make this situation plausible in the slightest. Its only purpose seems to be to put Chance in the most awful circumstances possible and then show him a man who can save him from all that.

At the time, I didn’t realize I had to go into detailed over-kill back story about a young gay man’s experience. Since then, I’ve had letters from gay men all over the world who could identify with that story. The gay men all got it. I said his family threw him out and that, I thought, was good enough in order to move the story forward. This reviewer asks how she’s supposed to believe this. Well she’s supposed to believe this because I am the gay man writing about a gay character and I know better than she does what it’s like to be the gay man. And that’s as plain and simple as it gets. I don’t see anyone telling Toni Morrison what it’s like to be African-American, so don’t tell gay men what it’s like to be gay.

But I digress. Here’s a comment from the Matt Bomer article I thought was nice:

“You are the example that the rest of our country needs to wake up and see in terms of equality and putting an end to the bullying epidemic and making sure that every family is respected in our schools and our society,” Manganiello, who also reportedly attended college with Bomer, is quoted as saying.

You can read the rest of the article here. There are more interesting links and even a mention about that idiot Bret Easton Ellis. And I’d like to add one more thing. If you see bullying, stop it. Even if it looks like harmless teasing it can be harmful to kids and they don’t even realize it. Things are better now than they were when Matt Bomer and I were growing up, but things still aren’t all that great.

Ryan Field is the author of over 100 published works of LGBT fiction, the best selling Virgin Billionaire series, a pg rated hetero romance that was featured on The Home Shopping Network titled, "Loving Daylight," and a few more works of full length fiction with a pen name. He's worked in publishing for twenty years as a writer, editor, and associate editor. His work has been in Lambda Award winning anthologies and he's self-published a few novels with Ryan Field Press. You can reach him by leaving a comment here, or at rfieldj@aol.com